‘Kraut About It: Sauerkraut Fermentation for Newbies

As a fermentation newbie myself, I wanted to share an easy ferment for beginners - sauerkraut! A simple and popular Mason jar ferment, sauerkraut is tasty, easy to digest, and contains many beneficial probiotics.

Always handle fermentation tools and foods with clean hands. This is very important because you don’t want any bad bacteria getting into the ferment.

Make sure to keep the cabbage submerged while fermenting.

Don’t cook your kraut because the heat destroys the beneficial bacteria created during the ferment. Stirring sauerkraut into a warm bowl of soup or sprinkling on the top of your meal is fine. I warm my sauerkraut up by mixing some with mashed potatoes.

SERVE:

There are many possibilities for serving Kraut. Some creative ways to eat sauerkraut include: Tossing it in a salad, adding it to scrambled eggs, or using it in a sandwich!

Ready to make your kraut or want to learn more Fermentation Recipes? Our Fermentation Starter Kit includes everything needed for beginners. Or if you already have a reCAP Mason jar lid, check out our 3 packs of Fermenters to start fermenting today!

Instructions

Shred the cabbage. Quarter the head of cabbage and use a cheese grater for easy shredding.

With clean hands toss the shredded cabbage in a bowl with salt and caraway seeds. Massage the salt into the cabbage for a good 5-10 minutes until the cabbage gets watery and soft.

Place the salted, shredded cabbage (and any water released) into the Mason jar.

Add a little extra water and the rest of the salt. Make sure all of the cabbage is submerged. You can use a jelly jar or other small jar as a weight. I also placed a whole cabbage leaf on top of my shredded cabbage to keep it packed down.

Cap off the Mason jar with a reCAP wide mouth POUR and Fermenter then set aside for 28 days.

After fermentation is complete, refrigerate your sauerkraut. The reCAP POUR Mason jar lid makes it super easy to serve and store some for later!